


Sleep

by BuddyTheMeanPeacock



Series: To Go to Sleep [1]
Category: Fire Emblem: Fuukasetsugetsu | Fire Emblem: Three Houses
Genre: Gen, M/M, Post-Timeskip | War Phase (Fire Emblem: Three Houses), Sharing a Bed, Spoilers for Post-Timeskip | War Phase (Fire Emblem: Three Houses), Strategic cuddling gone wrong, something to make up for sad time
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-11-09
Updated: 2019-11-09
Packaged: 2021-01-26 07:11:11
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,505
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21370213
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/BuddyTheMeanPeacock/pseuds/BuddyTheMeanPeacock
Summary: Claude gets an unexpected visitor in the middle of the night, with an unexpected request.
Relationships: Dimitri Alexandre Blaiddyd/Claude von Riegan
Series: To Go to Sleep [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1541641
Comments: 8
Kudos: 218





	Sleep

It certainly would be beneficial to find a weapon to elevate those without Crests to the same level as those who have them. They've managed to come across many a weapon that could only be fully used by people lucky enough to be born compatible, so the news of legendary weapons that can be wielded by anyone was terrific... in theory. In practice heading out, using up precious supplies and working up soldiers, splitting up the forces from defending their lands, all on the mere rumor of a good weapon might be too risky. He wouldn't discard the idea completely, however; if such a thing did exist it would be an immense aid in the war. Perhaps he could spare some scouts to the lake... ah, wait. Looking at the map Teutates was quite far from the monastery. Sending a scout on foot or horseback would take too long. Flier, maybe...? ... No, the amount of fliers talanted enough to avoid detection were few. Too few to risk, in case this weapon was guarded, and if someone else has gotten to it then the risk would be for quite literally nothing.

Leonie, Ignatz, Raphael, Ashe, Dedue, Caspar, Shamir, Alois, Hanneman, Manuela, Gilbert, Cyril. All of the commanders without Crests that would gain from this if it bore fruit. But... they were all plenty capable without access to Crest weapons. Was it worth it to make them better if they could already hold their own? But the greater strength, even to only one of them, would be a significant boon... 

How much time did they have? ...A month, at the most, to take on Fort Merceus and break into Enbarr. Teutates and Merceus were annoyingly far from one another. Go to the lake, fight any bandits looking for treasure, see if there _was_ any treasure, regroup in Garreg Mach, restock the supplies lost by heading to Teutates, heal any injured, wait for any severely injured to recover back into fighting form, gather the men needed to take on Merceus, head out to Merceus, take on the fort... How plausible was all of that? Their manpower and supplies have increased massively by joining forces, but that didn't mean they should chase the first story they hear... much as he kinda wanted to. 

...Going back to Merceus... He walked to another map, splattered with pins of multiple colors. Gronder was clear for now, and the Great Bridge stationed with Kingdom forces. They couldn't head straight south without encountering House Varley's land, taken over by Edelgard's demands. It would be ideal if they could avoid fighting anyone before taking on Fort Merceus. Maybe if they went through Gronder instead... Caspar has been open about his fear of facing his father, but the scout reports say that the Bergliez house was the only one Edelgard has failed to bring to heel. That didn't mean the man was an ally, or that Edelgard hasn't come up with some other way to block that way to Merceus... Then again, Merceus is a natural fortress. Perhaps she hasn't thought to do something, after all? He doubted it; Edelgard didn't get so far in the war by being that cocky. He needs more information before he could say for sure.

He picked up one of the books of notes laying around. The past four months Edelgard has lost an estimated few hundred troops, give or take when not including the grunts that fled their battalion formation once their leader fell. This included three generals, one of which held the postion for decades, even if he was originally for the Kingdom. She's lost control of a large portion of her land and lacks the means to immediately invade Alliance territory due to that and the Kingdom's hold on the Great Bridge... He looked back at a map. There was still Cornelia in the Kingdom capitol. If they leave full force for Enbarr while Edelgard goes on the defensive it's possible Cornelia could attack from behind, or attack their bases with them undermanned. Splitting the forces even seemed unwise too, however; Edelgard still has a mass amount of troops and land. If they were going to strike her they needed the force necessary to overcome the natural advantages going on the defensive Adrestia's landscape gave Edelgard. 

So, how could they go about taking on Cornelia first, if they were allowed to? He walked across the room to yet another map. It would seemingly be far easier, Cornelia surrounded by enemies and a fairly straight shot. His scouts have reported a multitude of demonic beasts roaming around the capital, but with the riots spreading across the nation and more and more turncoats sneaking their way to the monastery it would be a-

Claude yelped as he felt himself be shaken.

"Claude!"

His heart racing he turned and saw... Dimitri? He turned his head out the window- yup, it was nighttime. He looked back at the unpredictable prince, bagged eye wide with... fear? Did Dimitri have another episode?

"Phew, you snuck up on me!" Claude said light heartedly, hoping an easy air would loosen Dimitri's grip on his shoulders. 

Dimitri's hold tightened. Well, so much for that. He shook his head at Claude. "I have been in here for some time. I called out your name again and again. I stood by your side and called again, and you did not respond, you- you had just kept-"

And his eye roamed around Claude's room. He felt a twinge of embarrassment. It was a little messier than usual, more books on the floor and a few maps riddled with strategically placed pins adorning his walls.

But he couldn't help but chuckle a bit at Dimitri's words, wary of the man he may be. "Suuure, Your Princeliness." He threw him a wink. "Still too honorable to admit to something as naughty as sneaking up on someone? You really are somethin' else."

Dimitri glared at him, and Claude resisted the urge to swallow. That was too far, wasn't it?

"I speak of no fabrications, Claude," he told him, stern and serious, but that emotion from before flitted across his eye. "You moved and acted as though I were not here with you."

...Or if Dimitri had snuck up on him. Really, did he honestly expect him to believe that he wouldn't notice that hulking figure and imposing voice? Claude could be absorbed in his thoughts sometimes, sure, but he'd notice something like that.

He wiggled in Dimitri's grasp. "Hey, uh, mind letting me go? Kinda busy with this," and he tossed his head back to the maps he was pulled away from...

Thinking on those maps brought his mind back to planning. He could vaguely see Dimitri's mouth move but he found his eyes falling back on one of the maps taking a spot on his wall. A throw away idea, making use of Hevring's ports and deploying a naval attack directly against Enbarr, foregoing Fort Merceus entirely. Fodlan's naval forces were pitiful, really, and far too few of those here had experience boarding and manning a ship. Plus it's not as if they could just walk on over to Hevring, what with the Count siding with Edelgard. But maybe... if he could get a spy to there, one with naval experience, and pose as one of the many fisherman in the area, have an eye in the capital... No, the distance would be too treacherous-

Another harsh shake brought his attention back to Dimitri. His brows were furrowed as he looked at Claude. 

Claude sighed. "What are you even doing here?" ...Maybe he could call on Nader to bring some troops to hold down Garreg Mach? The thought struck him, sudden and unbidden.

Hmm... it _was_ a thought, for sure. "I have been meaning to meet with you, but I could never find you." He somewhat registered Dimitri saying, but... Was he on to something? ... Wait. No. He turned his head to one of his maps. Garreg Mach was literally in the middle of Fodlan. Nader couldn't stay from Almyra for too long if he was going to be so far from the border. Claude wasn't sure either the Alliance lords nor the Kingdom nobles would care too fondly about his assistance anyway... unless it was him and his men being here that allowed the war to be over sooner? It was certainly one way to foster more trust between the two continents, but only if he could convince his instructor to come waist deep in "enemy" territory-

"Gah!"

Claude was snatched out of his thoughts as he was pulled out of his room by a hand to his wrist. He tripped and fumbled in his steps as Dimitri marched out of the room into the dormitory hallway.

"D-Dimitri!" The name came out in a harsh whisper, trying not to awaken anyone. Fighting against the pull would almost certainly do just that, so Claude tried to match his steps with the taller man's longer stride. 

But just when he had done that they'd already reached Dimitri's destination: his room.

The first thing Claude noticed was how much cleaner the space was than his own. It... unnerved him, a little. If a room was for him specifically he couldn't help but fill it with his belongings. Make it feel like it was really _his_ space. Dimitri's room felt so... empty.

The hold on his wrist was finally gone as Dimitri turned to face him with an increasingly familiar gruff expression on the man's face. Claude couldn't help the spark of annoyance. He needed to think about which course of action to take, not indulge in whatever stunt Dimitri's unstable mind deemed important. "Okay, care to tell me what that was fo-"

"I cannot sleep. You will lie in bed with me, just as before."

The answer was as gentle as a gauntleted punch to the stomach, and Claude let out a noise at the impact. His first thought was to tease about how utterly _scandalous_ Dimitri's demand was, because hoo boy was it prime material for just that. But... "just as before?" Claude thought back to when they could have done something like... oh.

Ohhh.

He couldn't stop the genuine smile from spreading across his face. Dimitri took in a quick, short breath, his eye widening. Claude laughed softly. "Aww, Your Princeliness, why didn't you just tell me you missed your Teddy Dear?" He couldn't help the teasing tone that came to his voice anyway.

He remembers back during their days as students, on one night where he happened upon a restless Dimitri. Claude was just up late studying, but the prince had confided that he couldn't get to sleep. Claude had suggested that he find someone to lay with; he knew it worked with some, the company settling down any nerves. But it was mostly a harmless joke, something to make the innocent little prince blush and stutter.

Dimitri had taken it seriously however, as Claude should have probably figured he would. And he asked the only person available to perform such a thing at such short notice. It was Claude who found himself at a lost for words, mindlessly saying yes in one of the few moments he can remember being fully caught off guard by something.

They'd tried it, Dimitri pulling Claude close to him. He'd found it... hard to stay awake, to his surprise. But he did, hoping and waiting for Dimitri's tense form to relax fully before he slipped away back into his room before anyone could awaken and catch them. Had to avoid making any unsavory rumors for Dimitri's monster of a retainer to be mad at, after all.

It had became a familiar pattern for them, Claude sneaking over to Dimitri's room and acting as a strange sleeping agent, until eventually Claude playfully compared it to sleeping with a teddy bear.

_"'Cept I'm a dear... Guess I'm your teddy dear instead, huh? Doesn't roll of the tongue quite as well but hey, what can ya do?"_

Dimitri wasn't exactly Linhardt when it came to sleeping; the man was probably used to being a little restless nowadays. But he came for help for it anyway. That was a good sign, him wanting to fix something about his health. Some sleep would definitely help with stabilizing him, and if Claude had to spend a little time to see if he still had that teddy bear effect on Dimitri then it was well worth the time loss from strategizing.

Seeing his words not really pushing any buttons like he wanted Claude sighed and walked to the bed. "Sure. Let's give it a shot."

It was odd, laying here again. It was lucky Claude rarely found himself in his own much larger bed or the snugness that came with Dimitri's smaller one may have been uncomfortable. As it was it was... quite the fit, the bed large enough to support two but not really meant to. Claude felt silly, but if it helped Dimitri then he'd at least try.

A tentative arm wrapped around him, as unsure as Claude was about this but still going for it anyway. He really did hope this went well. Since they joined forces at Gronder after had Edelgard failed to have them fight Claude has seen how undone Dimitri has become, his demeanor and behavior a far cry from the polite prince back in the academy. And apparently he was better now than he was before they joined, according to Teach and that old man- Gilbert, Gustave, whatever name he went by.

As it was Dimitri insists they head straight to Enbarr, as he's apparently done since reuniting with Teach- ah, right, that. This stunt nearly made him forget about the plans he was supposed to come up with to do just that. It would be so much easier if he could get back in his room with the maps and reports in front of him, but Fodlan's land was fairly familiar to him at this point. So... if Dimitri would allow it, if they took back the Kingdom capital before taking on Enbarr they'd get rid of an enemy at their back and gain the support of those who've been fighting against her but couldn't afford to directly help them. But Dimitri's want to straight arrow it to Enbarr wasn't without its own value, if a dangerous one. Strike while Edelgard is recovering from her injuries at Gronder, don't give her time to bounce back. If they could find a way past that damn fortress quickly... but they couldn't. Yet, anyway. If Claude could get back to his room he might could think of something... How was Dimitri?

His arm was still on him. It was hard to tell if Dimitri was relaxed or not; he hadn't pulled Claude as close as he used to, most likely still too averse to too much touch. The deliberate breaths against the back of his head and how stiff his arm felt on top of Claude suggested he was awake, but maybe... He could see Dimitri's hand resting on the edge of the bed. He reached his own and graced his fingers against Dimitri's palm, the skin calloused and cold under his touch.

A gasp and a flinch was his answer. Damn, so he was still awake. Hopefully if he waited a little longer- 

A sigh, content, from behind him. He felt the arm on him grow heavy. The once still hand enveloped his own, its fingers filling the gaps of his.

"So warm..."

Ah. Okay then. That works. 

Claude ignored the heat he felt to his face and spark of... something, in his chest, and the awe in Dimitri's voice. Focus. If he could relax then it was only matter of time before he went to sleep proper. Once he does Claude can slip away to his room and get back to planning.

His eyes flitted about the room as he thought. With Randolph killed, Caspar with them, and Gronder being taken, Bergliez territory is ripe to take advantage of if they're swift enough- hopefully Edelgard has been too preoccupied with recovering herself and her forces to do so yet... Thinking on it, if he remembered his notes correctly then from everything he's gathered about the battles so far Cornelia could have struck Garreg Mach while Dimitri and everyone had been at Gronder if she had wanted. Is she so busy trying with to control the Kingdom that she can't afford to divert her attention? If so then they wouldn't have to worry about a strike from the back... but it also meant that her forces wouldn't be able to handle them if they were allowed to engage her. Oh, if they can convince Dimitri to head for the Kingdom it would make searching for that weapon or weapons in Teutates far easier. Make at least one of their non-Crest bearers an even graver threat against the Empire... No, he should focus on trying to get to Enbarr since it was the harder of the two options- that and Dimitri seems far too dead set on getting to Edelgard so he wouldn't allow it anyway. 

Speaking of...

Claude shut his eyes tight, fighting to get out of the rut his thoughts threw him in as he focused on Dimitri. Steady breathing. Arm still heavy. Grip looser on his hand. 

Good, good. If Dimitri wasn't asleep by now he might as well be with how soon it would happen. Now, to get off the bed. Though he knew the man was more skittish now, Claude was sure he could manage to not wake Dimitri just like he'd done before. Very slowly he pulled the hand entangled in Dimitri's to get it out of the loose hold. Dimitri's twitched instinctively at the movements, but if Claude could just... be... patient... there. His hand was free. Now, to slip out from under-

Claude gasped as he was suddenly yanked closer to Dimitri, hitting his back against the man's chest. He felt Dimitri press his face into his hair. He felt the fast, rhythmic _ba-bum ba-bum ba-bum_ of Dimitri's heart against him.

"Don't leave me."

He felt an unfamiliar rush spread through his chest at the desperate whisper. "H-Hey now," he stumbled out. This wasn't how this ever went. "C'mon Dimitri. I gotta get back to my room. Those plans won't make themselves, you know?" Throw Edelgard at Dimitri's face. That'll get him to stop... this, whatever this is, this new thing that Claude wasn't prepared for-

A shake against his hair. _Ba-bum ba-bum ba-bum._ "_Please_, Claude."

That wasn't supposed to fail. Claude swallowed. His thoughts were racing and he giggled nervously. Yes- funny, very funny. He didn't think Dimitri had it in him to joke like this-

He felt a fist bundle the front of his loose shirt in a tight grip. _Ba-bum ba-bum ba-bum_

"I missed y-"

"Alright, alright!" '_Don't- don't say that. That's- don't_.' "I'll stay. You're so clingy," he laughed, ignoring the buzzing in his chest. He didn't know what it was and didn't care to. He went back to planning here instead, bringing up mental images of his maps and notes.

Dimitri didn't say anything. He sighed, slowly relaxing again, the grip on Claude's clothes loosening. The beat of his heart slowed to a calming _ba-bum, ba-bum, ba-bum_ against Claude.

_Ba-bum, ba-bum, ba-bum_

They'd managed to save Bernadetta from her burns at the central hill. The woman's injuries showed a cruel side to Edelgard's plotting- more cruel than he expected. He couldn't rule out the possibility she would sacrifice more of her troops on a grander scale if things got too bad for her.

_Ba-bum, ba-bum, ba-bum_

Claude blinked hard. ...Count Gloucester is far less argumentative with Teach's presence as archbishop around, but is still worried about teaming up with Faerghus, afraid of losing independence. He has to think of a way to make that sound appealing, or make the man think that wouldn't happen.

_Ba-bum, ba-bum, ba-bum_

He rubbed at his eyes. Should they... try to save Petra? It wouldn't... _would_ be bad if they... kept relations with Brigid... sour...

_Ba-bum, ba-bum, ba-bum _   
_Ba-bum, ba-bum, ba-bum _   
_Ba-bum, ba-bum, ba-bum _

Damn it, he was _tired_.

It hit him; his body filled with iron and his mind was dragged down with it in the sea of the simple sound. It drowned out everything else and he sank into it, giving in to current. How long has it been since he's felt so... relaxed? And was he always so tired? His busy mind rarely let him settle down. It felt... good. He sighed, feeling a deep sleep's embrace creep up on him. 

"Damn," he breathed out to himself, "but isn't this a nice change."

His eyelids grew heavy the more he stayed awake. He closed them, absentmindedly bringing a hand to close around calloused and cold skin.

"Thank you, Dimitri," he slurred out to no one. "I... I really needed... needed..."

He went to sleep.

**Author's Note:**

> AKA Dimitri demands sleepy time with Claude and Claude doesn't realize how worrying his deep thinking can look to others
> 
> Claude's thoughts made this... longer than I thought it'd be lol 
> 
> Hope y'all enjoy (:


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